Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to containers used for packaging, shipping, and displaying goods. More particularly, the invention relates to containers having a bottom container section for holding goods therein, and an upper cover section for covering the goods held within the bottom section.
Description of the Related Art
Display ready containers have become very popular, particularly in retail stores where goods for sale are displayed in the container in which they were shipped. A typical display ready container has separate top and bottom sections formed from separate blanks. The bottom section has side walls and flaps for forming the container bottom. The upper section has side walls and flaps for forming the container top. The upper section typically fits over the side walls of the bottom section to enclose the interior of the container and protect the goods inside, although other configurations are possible. The upper and bottom sections can then be secured together for shipping. Once the container is at the retailer, the upper section can be removed to display the goods within the bottom section.
Display ready containers are particularly useful as shipping-display containers. Used to package and ship goods for retail, the outside face of the bottom section can be printed and/or designed with promotional information suitable for display on the retail floor. The retailer, after removing the upper section of the container, places the bottom container section containing the goods on the retail floor.
A previous disadvantage of such two piece containers was the number of steps necessary to assemble the container. This disadvantage was overcome with the development of display ready containers that allow for the automation of the set up, packaging and sealing of such containers. One such display ready container is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,505,368 which is hereby incorporated herein by reference. This patent provides a container assembly having an unopened outer sleeve (that forms the outer cover section when erected), and an unopened inner sleeve (that forms the inner container section when erected) positioned inside the outer sleeve. The inner and outer sleeves, in a flat unopened form also known as a knockdown, are adhered together relative to one another in the positional relationship of the final erected container assembly which allows the top forming flaps of the container assembly to be closed. This allows the container to be assembled and filled with goods with the outer cover section (upper section) already secured to the bottom container section. Once the container is filled with the goods, the top forming flaps attached to the outer cover section are folded over and sealed shut to enclose the container for shipment, thereby eliminating the step of placing the outer cover section over the bottom section, and thereby improving the automation of the packaging process. The retailer then separates the two container sections by breaking the adhesive joints between the two container sections, discarding the upper cover section, and using the bottom container section to hold and display goods on the retail floor.
A major advantage of display ready containers of the type described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,505,368 is the ability to automate much of the manufacture, assembly, and filling of the container with goods, thereby minimizing costs. In particular, automation of the manufacturing process has allowed major improvements in minimizing costs and manufacturing time. Previously, older machinery required the lower/inner section of a knockdown to be formed separately, folded from a blank and glued. This lower/inner section was then combined with the blank of the upper/outer section which was glued to and folded around the lower section. Moreover, older machines require greater tolerances between the component sections of the container during manufacture. If the sections are slightly misaligned, the greater tolerances allow for completion of the container, but this also produces a higher percentage of containers that functioned improperly. This is particularly problematic with auto bottom containers where a slight misalignment of the two sections relative to one another may prevent the container from opening properly.
Modern machinery, on the other hand, can combine, glue and fold the upper and lower container sections from flat blanks in a single pass through the machinery to make a completed knockdown ready for use, thereby reducing the number of steps needed to make the completed knockdown form of the container. Modern machines can also assemble the various components more precisely, allowing the construction of containers with smaller tolerances, thereby minimizing the percentage of containers that will fail, e.g., not open properly. As modern machines run faster and faster using less steps and with smaller tolerances, however, there is less room for misalignments of the two sections relative to one another when the two sections are combined. It has been found that existing containers are not capable of obtaining the full benefits of the new machinery as the higher production speeds may cause problems, and the tighter tolerances are difficult to obtain with current container configurations.
Accordingly, one object of the present invention is to provide an improved display ready container that can be manufactured using high speed automated equipment. Another object is to provide an improved container made with smaller tolerances to minimize the percentage of non-functioning containers. Other advantages will be obvious or may be learned by practice of the invention.